The goal at SXSW was to bring the IBM brand to life through Cognitive Studio, an immersive, interactive and meaningful engagement that enabled each attendee to experience a personalized journey of discovery with Watson. To turn the brand into a market disruptor, we ditched the stuffy corporate vibe and hired artists to paint an eye-popping outdoor mural and included interactive walls and countless custom finish-outs.

A restaurant was gutted and rebuilt for this experience. Inside, the IBM Cognitive Studio delivered exciting, interactive engagements designed to entertain and educate attendees on how IBM solutions are part of our everyday lives.

At the Cognitive Cocktail Bar, guests could tap their wristbands for a custom experience where the bartender already knew their name and Watson technology recommended a drink they were likely to enjoy.

At the Cognitive Cook-Off, Chef Watson created unique recipes with the help of flavor compound algorithms and faced off against Vince Young Executive Chef Phillip Brown to see who could outthink their best steak. Over 4,000 of Chef Watson’s original tacos were served.

A VR experience immersed participating attendees in the Cycling Experience, powered by IBM predictive analytics.

A developer playground, rock/paper/scissors game with a learning robot, mind-controlled BB8 robots, mural painting and Watson interactive tables with custom content kept visitors busy and engaged.

With lines wrapping around the block, an amazing 9,210 attendees came through the door (more than half belonged to their target millennial demographic) 6,497 cognitive cocktails were served, 3,484 people experienced virtual reality cycling, and 3,292 people engaged with the custom Watson interface.

IBM was one of three top trending brands at SXSW, with social media buzz expressing audience surprise and delight at the 360 degree IBM experience.

"2016 will be remembered as the year IBM called the ball on cognitive computing, and its marketing activation at SXSW, which rechristened a 5,000-square foot restaurant as the IBM Cognitive Studio, was pretty much pitch-perfect." - John Battelle (Wired, The Industry Standard)

IBM is capitalizing on the new momentum to continue rolling out their Cognitive Era platform, with SXSW as the benchmark on how to engage audiences by bringing their message, solutions and products to life.